Friday, May 12, 2006

Misplaced Restricters

GMAT Verbal Section -- Misplaced RestrictersRestricters are one word modifiers , they limit the meaning of other words or phrases.Restricters include almost, exactly, even, just, nearly, hardly, merely and scarcely.Restricter is placed directly before the word or phrase it modifies.Example of misplaced restricter My roommate only smiles on weekends.Literally the sentence suggests that on weekends the roomate does nothing except smiling - he/she does not eats,talks etc.Since this unlikely the restricter should be placed before its actual headword.There are 3 ways to edit the above example .Edited 1 - My roommate smiles only on weekends. => He/ She does notsmile on Monday through Friday.Edited 2 - My only roommate smiles on weekends. => The writer has one roommate, period.Edited 3 - Only my roommate smiles on weekends. => All the other people the writer knows or sees never smile on weekends.